Analysis of Bragg reflection waveguides with finite cladding: An accurate matrix method formulation

Ideal Bragg reflection waveguides (BRWs) are assumed to have an infinitely extended periodic cladding whereas in practice, the cladding of BRWs is of a finite extent. Bloch theorem is widely used to analyze the propagation characteristics of the BRWs. Since Bloch theorem is ideally valid only for an infinitely extended periodic medium, its application to study such BRWs is an approximation. We present a matrix method for a more accurate analysis of finite-clad BRWs and estimate the extent of errors involved in the values of the propagation constant obtained by the Bloch wave formalism. The proposed method can be used to obtain the mode effective indices as well as the radiation loss of a finite-clad BRW without resorting to solving any complex transcendental equation. In addition, since the method does not inherently assume a periodic cladding, it can also be used to analyze symmetric multi-channel BRWs, chirped structures and directional couplers.     

Rapid breakdown anodization technique for the synthesis of high aspect ratio and high surface area anatase TiO2 nanotube powders

Clusters of high aspect ratio, high surface area anatase-TiO₂ nanotubes with a typical nanotube outer diameter of about 18 nm, wall thickness of approximately 5 nm and length of 5-10 μm were synthesized, in powder form, by breakdown anodization of Ti foils in 0.1 M perchloric acid, at 10 V (299 K) and 20 V (∼275 and 299 K). The surface area, morphology, structure and band gap were determined from Brunauer Emmet Teller method, field emmission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Raman, photoluminescence and diffuse reflectance spectroscopic studies. The tubular morphology and anatase phase were found to be stable up to 773 K and above 773 K anatase phase gradually transformed to rutile phase with disintegration of tubular morphology. At 973 K, complete transformation to rutile phase and disintegration of tubular morphology were observed. The band gap of the as prepared and the annealed samples varied from 3.07 to 2.95 eV with increase in annealing temperature as inferred from photoluminescence and diffuse reflectance studies.     

Reentrant phenomena in cyano substituted biphenyl esters containing flexible spacers

A number of 4'-substituted phenyl 4-(4'-cyano-4-oxybiphenyl)butanoates have been synthesized to study the effects of the -O-(CH₂)₃COO- inter-ring linkage on mesomorphic behaviour. Transition temperatures have been determined and are compared with those of the phenyl cyanobiphenylmethanoate analogues. In general, the butanoates exhibit lower melting points but in all cases, a lower nematic-isotropic transition is observed. An interesting feature of some members of the butanoate series is the presence of several reentrant mesophases. A unique phenomenon observed while studying the behaviour of one of the butanoates was the appearance of smectic filaments from the isotropic liquid on cooling. These filaments, through an unusual process, eventually form the typical smectic A texture. Formation of an S_A phase from the isotropic liquid or the nematic phase in this fashion has not been reported previously.     

Theoretical approaches to the glass transition in simple liquids

Theoretical approaches to the development of an understanding of the behaviour of simple supercooled liquids near the structural glass transition are reviewed and our work on this problem, based on the density functional theory of freezing and replicated liquid state theory, are summarized in this context. A few directions for further work on this problem are suggested.     

Determination of tarce water in non-polar organic solvents with a flow-injection system and tin tetrachloride or antimony pentachloride

Low levels of water (limit of detection 2-5 mg kg^1?)can be determined in a non-polar organic solvents such as benzene, 1,2-dichloroethane (DCE) and n-hexane by utilizing the reaction of water with SnCl₄ or SbCl₅. The reaction results of hydrolysis in halide and is accompanied by a decrease in optical absorption. With SnSl₄, the reaction is monitored near 300 nm and with SbCl₅ it is monitored at lower wavelengths (350-420). Niether reactons proceeds well in media containing only DCE and n-hexane. For this reason, the arrangemens involves a halide reagent dissolved in benzene which is merged with a benzene/n-hexane/DCE carrier stream into which samlpe is injected. A configuration in which only 2μl of a concentrated halide reagent solution is injected into the flowing sample stream is also shown to be viable for the determination of water in benzene. A membrane-permeation-based calibration method for preparing trace water standards is described.     

A fast, inexpensive, and safe method for residue analysis of meptyldinocap in different fruits by liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry

An analytical method is reported for residue analysis of the fungicide meptyldinocap in different fruit matrixes that involves extraction with ethyl acetate, hydrolysis of the residues with ethanolamine, and determination by LC/MS/MS. The method involves extraction of 10 g sample with 10 mL ethyl acetate; evaporation of the ethyl acetate phase to dryness, and subsequent hydrolysis of the residues to 4,6-dinitro-2-(1-methylheptyl) phenol on reaction with 1% ethanolamine. The pH of this hydrolyzed product was neutralized with formic acid and analyzed by LC/MS/MS. The hydrolysis reaction followed pseudo-first-order kinetics, and the reaction product was spectroscopically confirmed as 2-(1-methylheptyl)-4,6-dinitrophenol. The method offered > 80% recoveries at an LOQ of 10 ng/g for grape and mango, 25 ng/g for pomegranate with intralaboratory Horwitz ratio < 0.5, and measurement uncertainties < 10% at LOQ levels. Considering first-order rate kinetics, activation energy, enthalpy of activation, and entropy of activation varied as solvent > mango > grape > pomegranate. Free energy of activation at 298 K was higher than at 280 K and was similar for solvent and three matrixes at both temperatures.     

Amino Acid Based Low‐Molecular‐Weight Ionogels as Efficient Dye‐Adsorbing Agents and Templates for the Synthesis of TiO2 Nanoparticles

The gelation of ionic liquids is attracting significant attention because of its large spectrum of applications across different disciplines. These ‘green solvents’ have been the solution to a number of common problems due to their eco‐friendly features. To expand their applications, the gelation of ionic liquids has been achieved by using amino acid‐based low‐molecular‐weight compounds. Variation of individual segments in the molecular skeleton of the gelators, which comprise the amino acid and the protecting groups at the N and C termini, led to an understanding of the structure–property correlation of the ionogelation process. An aromatic ring containing amino acid‐based molecules protected with a phenyl or cyclohexyl group at the N terminus were efficient in the gelation of ionic liquids. In the case of aliphatic amino acids, gelation was more prominent with a phenyl group as the N‐terminal protecting agent. The probable factors responsible for this supramolecular association of the gelators in ionic liquids have been studied with the help of field‐emission SEM, ¹H NMR, FTIR, and luminescence studies. It is the hydrophilic–lipophilic balance that needs to be optimized for a molecule to induce gelation of the green solvents. Interestingly, to maximize the benefits from using these green solvents, these ionogels have been employed as templates for the synthesis of uniform‐sized TiO₂ nanoparticles (25–30 nm). Furthermore, as a complement to their applications, ionogels serve as efficient adsorbents of both cationic and anionic dyes and were distinctly better relative to their organogel counterparts.     

A simulation study on photoacoustic signals from red blood cells

A two dimensional simulation study was performed to investigate the photoacoustic signal properties of non-aggregated and aggregated erythrocytes. Spatial distributions of non-aggregated blood samples were generated by employing a Monte Carlo method and aggregated blood samples were simulated using a hexagonal packing scheme. For the non-aggregating case photoacoustic signals demonstrated a monotonic rise with hematocrit. For the aggregating case it was found that spectral (<20 MHz) intensity increased (11 dB at 15.6 MHz) when the aggregate size increased. This study strongly suggests that the assessment of erythrocyte aggregation level in human blood might be possible by using a photoacoustic spectroscopic method.     

Detection and analysis of paraffin oil adulteration in coconut oil using fiber optic long period grating sensor

A fiber optic sensing system for the detection of adulteration of coconut oil by paraffin oil is experimentally demonstrated. The sensing mechanism is based on the sensitive dependence of the resonance peaks of a long period grating (LPG) on the changes of the refractive index of the environmental medium surrounding the cladding surface of the grating. The wavelength shift of the attenuation bands of the LPG was measured with the sensor immersed in a mixture of paraffin oil and pure coconut oil in different proportions. Detection limit of adulteration was found to be 3% for coconut oil-paraffin oil binary mixture.     

Predominant time scales in fission processes in reactions of S, Ti and Ni with W: zeptosecond versus attosecond

The inhibition of fusion by quasifission is crucial in limiting the formation of superheavy elements in collisions of heavy nuclei. Time scales of ～10(-18) s inferred for fissionlike events from recent crystal blocking measurements were interpreted to show either that quasifission itself is slower than previously believed, or that the fraction of slow fusion-fission is higher than expected. New measurements of mass-angle distributions for (48)Ti and (64)Ni bombarding W targets show that in these reactions quasifission is the dominant process, typically occurring before the system formed after contact has made a single rotation, corresponding to time scales of ≤10(-20) s.